The Pendant
by FanWriter02
Summary: "I-I got you a present..." She added, more like an after thought. "Open it!" It's a hot and sweaty day at the forge for Hiccup, but then Astrid shows up with a gift, instantly making his day better. One-shot. Post RTTE Season 4. Requested by dragontails89 on tumblr.


**The Pendant**

Hiccup ducked under a hanging chain, rattling it on his way to grabbing a set of tongs off the wall. He tested them before grabbing the heated sword in it's grip with his right hand, grabbing the large hammer with his left and bringing it down and sending ringing pounds against the glowing red medal.

He huffed against the heat, because it was stifling hot in the forge. Didn't help that today- out of all the days to have Inferno break- was one of the hottest day on Berk, really the only day that they had an actual "summer day". The teens had even gone swimming down by the bay since it was so hot, and Hiccup hoped to finish this sword soon so he could go and join them. Perhaps he could even convince Astrid and the gang to go swimming with him in the cove, since he enjoyed the shadiness of the trees and how cool the water was there more so then the salty water of the ocean.

But he still needed to finish Inferno so it would be ready to take along when they returned to the Edge, and he would have it handy if they ran into any unfriendly foes or dragons. Thinking of dragons, Hiccup glanced over at Toothless who was drowsing by the doorway, the dragon eyeing the door wearily as though longing for the semi-cool fresh air outside.

"Go ahead, bud." Hiccup urged, waving the heavy hammer towards the door. "I'll be done in a bit."

Toothless huffed thankfully before climbing to his feet and trotting out the door and quickly disappearing from sight. Hiccup sighed and turned back to Inferno, pushing it against the anvil and trying to reshape the broken medal.

 _Gods it's hot…_ he thought tiredly. The heat and all the work was beginning to make him feel drowsy, and he really didn't want to fall asleep before going for a swim…

He paused for a moment and looked down at his sweaty and thick red woven shirt, pondering if he should dare to remove it in a rather public space as the forge. But then he remembered how Gobber used to do that himself back in the day, but then the blacksmith had grown smart enough to wear a sleeveless shirt and therefore never did it anymore…

But Hiccup still wasn't that smart. He had never liked exposing his arms- because he'd been so scrawny- but at this point he was just too downright hot to care. He felt sweaty and sticky, and the shirt was beginning to rob against his skin and irritate it…

He set the tools down and hastily pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it in the corner before picking up the tools and resumed the pounding on the sword. After a couple minutes he began to cool down, and felt more comfortable as he moved about without the wet fabric of his shirt rubbing against him.

He smiled in satisfaction and leaned back, eyeing the sword happily before setting it aside to cool. He would leave it for now instead of dunking it in the water, which would sometimes make the medal loose some strength. For now, he could go and take that swim he desperately wanted (and needed, to be honest. He was nothing but a sweaty and smelly mess) then return to make the finishing touches.

He was about to go and retrieve his shirt when he heard a light tap on the door, so he turned and smiled when he saw a flash of blonde hair and a blue shirt- sure signs that Astrid had come for a visit.

She stepped around the large anvil and flashed him a smile, freezing in mid step when she caught sight of him. Silence fell, only the sound of the cackling fire filling the room.

"Oh gods!" Hiccup exclaimed, realizing that he was still shirtless. "G-g-ive me second!" He rambled, making a mad dash towards his shirt. But he realized with a groan that it had landed in a large bucket of water used for cooling weapons, and he knew it would be pointless to try and pull a soaking wet woolen shirt over his head. It would cling to him and literally be a waste of time and energy.

"Uh… hold on!" He called back before stumbling towards the room in the back he used for all his notes, looking about wildly for any signs of fabric. Anything. He was sure he could even make a pair of trousers work at this point.

"Hiccup..?" came a voice from beyond the room. He frantically rummaged through his desk, groaning with despair when he realized not a scrap of fabric was in sight.

"Hiccup! Get out here right now!"

"Coming, Astrid!" he called back, once again resuming the search. Nothing!

"It's fine, Hiccup. I just came from seeing Snotlout shirtless, I think you'll be fine." Astrid called out again.

Hiccup groaned before spinning around and opening the door, blinking down at Astrid for a moment, all words fleeing his mind and for a moment, he swore he'd never even learned the alphabet.

She was staring at him with wide blue eyes, and it was only then that he realized her hair was dripping water all over her shirt, dampening her shoulders. That led to another thing, her armor was gone. Now she only wore a soft brown skirt with her leggings and boots, along with her blue tank top. Shoulder guards were gone.

"H-hey…" Hiccup stuttered, finally finding his voice. "What're you doing here?" He tried to sound nonchalant, but knew he failed miserably by the too high pitched squeak in his voice.

"Hey." She smiled up at him, flipping her dripping bangs out of her face. "I came to see if you wanted to come swimming, it's too hot to be working here today…"

Hiccup laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck before realizing that it was probably better to just… keep as still as possible until he found a shirt. "Haha, actually… kinda figured that out on my own." He gave a small gesture to his upper half.

"You… you shouldn't be so ashamed you know." Her eyes flicked down towards his chest. "You look a lot better then Snotlout or Tuffnut."

He offered a lopsided grin. "Thanks… I think…"

"That was a compliment." she laughed lightly, her eyes sparkling.

She grinned again before biting her lip, once again doing a flip of her head. "I-I also brought you something…"

 _Please don't be Yaknog!_ he thought desperately. Anything but Yaknog! He wasn't sure he could keep it down this time… especially since it was so hot.

"Um, here." She shoved a small bundle into his arms, and he glanced up at her in confusion. She eyed him before flicking her gaze at the bundle, urging him to open it.

"I-I got you a present…" she added, more like an after thought. "Open it!"

Hiccup smiled at her before unfolding the cloth, revealing a strange medal and leather cord, thonged together. He pulled it out, noticing first off how a black scale was attached as a pendant at the bottom, the medal beads and a black feather hanging around it.

He looked closer, and realized with a small gasp that the black scale belonged to a Night Fury- Toothless to be exact- and that the leather chord was intended to go around the neck. It was made well, guaranteed to hold up for a long time.

"You… did you make this?" He asked in bewilderment, looking up at the nervous girl before him.

"Umm… yeah- I-I did…"

 _Gods, she's beautiful when she stutters…_

"I've been working on it for awhile, and I didn't really know if you'd like it or not. Since it's-it's not exactly manly…"

"What?" Hiccup asked, truly puzzled. "Why… why is this not manly?"

"It's a chord for the neck- a necklace sorta…" She stumbled over the words, added with a blush. Hiccup grinned even more at the sight of the pink tint of her cheeks, loving the way she got embarrassed. For once it was her who was blushing and not him…

"Astrid, I love it." Hiccup interrupted. "It… it means so much more to me because it's Toothless's scale, and…" He held it up to his neck, flashing her a grin. "It'll look good with my leather, huh?"

She smiled and blushed a bit more, making him realize again that he was still without a shirt. It was his turn to blush now, and he lowered the necklace back into his palm.

"And it'll remind me of you, since you made it." Hiccup added softly. "Thank you Astrid."

She smiled again before leaning forward, and he knew what she wanted. He gently pressed his lips against hers, the kiss quick and short but sweet none the less.

"Now, I really need to go find a shirt." Hiccup said before stepping away, slipping the chord over his head as he did so. "Ugh, which means I have to walk through town… like this." He gestured to himself again with another groan.

"Here, I'll run up to your house and find you a shirt. But I thought you were going to go swimming?"

Hiccup paused, then laughed when he realized what she said was true. "Oh, right. I guess we could go straight to the cove then."

"I'll go get the others." Astrid said with a smile before running off and disappearing out the door.

Hiccup looked back down at his neck, letting his fingers play with the scale and feather. How long had it taken her to make this? It looked complicated… especially since it was so small and she never liked needle work in the first place. Which was what made this little token so much more special.

 **This was a prompt on tumblr, and I hope you enjoyed it. :D**


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